Ben 10: Multiverse
by John Mathews
Summary: Taking place after Omniverse, after the demise of the alien hero Ben Tennyson, a kid from Bellwood must take his mantel with the newly designed Omnitrix, the Multitrix.
1. Chapter 1-New Hero

_The universe. Ever expanding throughout the years. Forming new life, and sending older lives into extinction. Yet, some lives are preserved, in a device. This device, made to find and store the DNA of all those beings, the Omnitrix_

It was a normal day in the extraterrestrial town of Bellwood. All the people had been on there way to whatever destination they were heading to. Some were off to work, while others were going to the Undertown for whatever reasons.

There was a two story building just off of the business section of the city. Its garage door was up, with a sign at the top that read "Carsen Motors". A white and red car inside, it's hood was up, a hand rummaging through. A teen, arguably in his early 20s with blonde hair. had walked over to his toolbox grabbing a socket wrench. He had twisted a bolt into its place in the engine, sighing and pushing down the hood, closing it. He placed the wrench on a table, grabbing a white jacket and covering his body with it.

The teen looked up at the sound of the door closing above him. A woman had walked down the stairs of the garage and towards him, a grin on her face."Uh, Mom? What's with the smile?" the teen asked the woman, stepping back slowly.

The female had pulled up a piece of paper ready to squeal in excited. "Well, guess what came in the mail today?"

"From the looks of it, a new make up kit?" the teen had asked in a sly tone.

"Colby, your acceptance letter arrived today!" his mother stated. It confused him. What did he want to accept into again? He gave her a questioning look for a minute, trying to tick her off with the face he made. "You were accepted into Bellwood Academy?!"

"Oh, yeah that-I don't remember that." Colby stated to her, tucking his hands into his pocket. It wasn't surprising anyone. The kid couldn't remember things he found unimportant, even if he wanted to. "Bellwood Academy huh? Seems like a good opportunity, doesn't it?" he asked looking up in thought. "A new beginning. A brighter future for me and everyone around me..."

"Eh. Whatever I guess." he shrugged off the thought.

"What?!" his mother questioned, dumbfounded. "But this a huge opportunity for you! You're just gonna let it pass like this?"

"I'll sleep on it, mom." he replied going to the table and grabbing a key chain with car keys attached. "Right now I need to go to the junkyard. All those parts aren't gonna sort themselves." with that, the blonde opened the door to the white and red race car, turned the keys and drove off.

* * *

The teen was at the junkyard for hours. Trailing from the afternoon, to the evening. He had finished rolling the last tire into a pile, which seemed to resemble the Eiffel Tower. He huffed, seeing the last shimmer of sun light slowly fade away on the horizon. His work day was over.

He had a conversation with the owner of the yard. He had obtained his paycheck for the day. 175.00 in cash. Colby smiled.

"What's with the extra, Mr. Kruger?" Colby asked. He wasn't complaining, just asking. He doesn't remember doing anything that would condone it.

"It's just a little going away present for you." the junkyard manager replied, grinning. "I heard you got into Bellwood Academy. I just wanted to reward you."

"By an extra hundred bucks? Not that I'm complaining." the blonde stuttered out, shoving the cash in his pocket.

Mr. Kruger only chuckled. "Yeah I thought so. Good luck, kid." he patted the teen on the shoulder, pushing him forward slightly.

Colby began to walk out the gate, then looked back. "I'll stop by sometime, okay?" he continued to walk out, not waiting for a response. He had walked to his white and red car, opening the door. He looked up to the stars. He had made his decision. "Yeah...I'll make you proud dad..."

He was snapped out of his moment when he saw an orange star go through the sky. It was something he had never seen. He watched it curve downwards to the ground, landing dead center at the very place he works. The junkyard.

"What the..." he began, then he had sprinted into the site as dust was swept up by the impact. He had run straight, looking for his boss, Mr. Kruger. He found himself climbing a small mountain of debris, before falling down into a small crater. He rolled down to the floor, collecting dirt from the ground.

The young man looked up, seeing a metal ball in the center. He had got up and walked to the ball. He was curious of why such a thing would land here. It seemed very rare to have something like this happen. At least to him it was.

The ball suddenly opened, seeping out smoke. Inside Colby saw a white and green, square watch with a green and back symbol on it. "Okay, that's weird..." he stated, reaching into the ball to grab the watch. He looked at it, slightly confused. "Must be a digital watch..." he told himself, placing and securing it on his wrist. It had suddenly lit up, grabbing its wearer's attention. "Okay then...it's on..." he mumbled, putting a finger on the top. A hologram had formed, as well as a wheel around it. "What is this? Some type of app?" he saw a check sign at the bottom of the wheel and pressed it. The top of the watch opened, revealing a cylinder with the same green and black symbol. Colby took his thumb and pressed it slowly, putting it back into its position.

The watch began to shine bright in green and yellow light. Green lines started to appear on Colby's left arm, expanding to his entire body. His skin had turned blacker than the darkest void. The arms and legs started to become covered with the rest of his body with a black blob. The blobs had finally covered his face. He closed his eyes, and at the end, opened one black and green eye taking up most of his face.

The young teen fell down, breathing deeply and looking around. He was calming down. "Okay..." he slowly looked down at his hands. "It was just a hallucination...oh, I have no fingers-I have no fingers!" he screeched in a cybernetic version of his original light hearted voice.

He ran around, slightly panicked of what he had become. "What happened to me?" he looked at his chest to see the symbol of the watch on a small plate of metal. "It has something to do with this stupid watch, doesn't?" he grabbed the metal plate on his chest, trying to pry it off him, but he couldn't. "Get off, you stupid little-" just then, he heard a cry for help, from a familiar voice. It was Mr. Kruger!

The teen blob ran to best of his stubby feet's abilities. Running to the distress calls of his boss. He finally found the old man. His foot was stuck under a pillar, right under a tower of cars, ready to collapse. "Mr. Kruger!" Colby shouted to the man. "Don't worry! I'll get you out of there!" he stated, beginning to run off to the side.

" _Okay, what can I you to get him out of there?"_ the teen thought to himself, before running into a wall and splattering all over it. He stepped back, looking up at it. It was a pillar, and not just a pillar, a crane. Suddenly, a mental lightbulb had shined. "Got it!" he said, beginning to melt into the machinery, covering it in the black and green blob. The crane had extended slightly, moving its claw down to the rubble and debris surrounding the old man. The machine lifted the debris, turning and tossing it to another side of the junkyard.

The blob detached from the crane down to the ground, being engulfed in green and yellow lights. Colby had suddenly transformed into his human form. He ran over to Mr. Kruger, sliding over to make eye contact with him. "Boss! You okay?" he asked the old man, who only grunted, attempting to get on his feet.

Colby picked up his boss, wrapping his arm around the back of his neck. They began to walk out the junkyard, the young staring at what he had attached to himself.


	2. Chapter 2-Welcome to Bellwood Academy

It was a few days after the incident at the junkyard. Rumors were spread around that a meteor had crashed, that it was a message of more hostile alien life, coming to declare war on the planet. None of this was proven, but still people were on high alert. Especially the residence of Undertown. But not the young adult Colby. He was more worried about today. His first day of college.

He had already packed his things the night before. His guitar, his comic books, his posters, and extra clothes...and his clothes. It was all lloaded into his race car.

"Do you really need to come with me, mom?" the blonde teen asked the woman walking beside him to his car.

"Yes dear. I need to see this place for myself." she explained to him, opening the passenger door, getting into the passenger seat. Colby followed, jumping into the driver's seat.

"Okay, I'm fine with that." Colby replied, grabbing his keys and putting it into the ignition switch. "Just...try not to make a scene there. Will ya?" he twisted the ignition, the car engine.

* * *

It took up to 45 minutes to get from the garage to the college. A good thing actually. He ain't that far from his job now.

Colby steered his car into the end of the parking lot, closet to the dorm, which was 5 minutes away from where they were.

Colby and his mother had walked out the car into the main building. They both walked to the main desk, to a woman crossing her arms.

His mother had everything covered at the desk, so the blonde teen had time to roam the grounds. He walked through the building. Not much. Some ATM machines, that was all. He continued to wonder around, trying to grasp the campus.

He reached the sports field, outside the buildings. Home field of the Academy team, the Bellwood Hens. He looked around at the not so deserted area. The basketball team were just finished on the court, and the soccer team were just in the middle of practice. He saw the flag of the college, a blue bird, close to a falcon. He didn't take his eyes off it, walking backwards like he would when he was younger.

He turned back and immediately ran into another person, causing him to fall. He laid on his back looking at the sky nonchalantly. _"Not many clouds today. Nice...and bored."_ he raised his head to see the person he ran into. Something he kind of wasn't fully expecting today.

It was a girl, a girl in an orange unzipped hoodie and jeans. She seemed to have orange looking hair and freckles covering her cheeks and nose, her eyes shining green like a diamond.

"Sorry mister!" she exclaimed, quickly getting up and extending a hand to the teen. "Need help?"

Colby grabbed her hand, pulling on it rather quickly, expecting her to pull him back to his feet. Instead he had pulled her down to him, making her fall into his arms. They looked at each other, right each other's eyes. Both blushing. Something was wrong though. The girl had felt something touch her chest. It was Colby's hand.

Both their faces turned a dark shade of red. The blonde looked down at his hand, as it made contact with her rather impressive bust. The lady on the other had a more visible face of embarrassment.

They had both gotten to their feet, the girl looking down covering her chest. Her face was flushed red.

"Sorry...I didn't mean-" Colby started, before being interrupted.

"How was it?" she asked in a light, gentle voice. It was an odd question to ask, though.

"It was...nice. Firm at the least." he replied, looking at the hand he used to make contact. "But listen, I didn't mean-" he was stopped again by her.

"I'm sorry, I need to go, now!" she stated before starting to run. Bumping past him in the process. The young man only sighed.

* * *

After the sign in was completed, it was time for the young adult check out his dorm. He was in Co-ed dorms. As in, male and female, which he really didn't care about. At least, not to much.

He opened the door to his new room. He was in room 20A. The man's side of the building. He looked around his new residence. It had a bed against the windows, with a nice view of the campus, the other bed was against a wall, next to a desk with a laptop. He set his boxes down below the wall bed, resting on it and staring at his left wrist, to the green and white watch. Pondering what had happened the night he equipped it to his body.

He looked to see how he turned it on before. He saw a green button on the inner side, and pressed it, causing the wheel and the hologram to reappear. He turned the wheel, changing the hologram. He stopped at a hologram with four floppy wings and what looked like no mouth.

Suddenly a guy with brown comb over hair and broken glasses walked in, looking around just like Colby. He looked at him, curiously. Colby had his left hand in his pocket, as so no one could see.

"Uh...hey." the blonde greeted. He didn't let much show, but a look of fear was expressed with what he said. "I'm Colby Carsen. You are?"

"Bragen Mitchell. Pleasure to meet you." he greeted back in a rather monotone, yet hyperactive voice. He grabbed the young teen's right hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Yeah..." Colby paused, releasing his hand from Mitchell's grip. "So, which bed are you choosing?" he asked what could only assume to be his own roommate.

"This one." he replied, gesturing the bed the blonde was sitting on. "Or, is there something wrong?"

Colby shook his hand moving towards the window. "Nothing at all." he looked out the door seeing the girl from before, carrying her boxes into the room across from them.

He walked out the door across the hall, and knocked on the door of room 20B. The door opened as the orange haired woman peeked out her head, a look of surprise on her face.

"Hey..." Colby began, waiting for a reaction. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened earlier..." he rubbed the back of his head, looking at her gain a pinkish color on her cheeks.

"Oh, that?" she asked, confusing the young man. "Yeah I remember now. I was a bit overwhelmed by what you did. So let me say what I wanted to then." in an instant she had slapped the blonde in the back of the head, knocking him to the side as she began to rant. "How dare you! You should know very damn well not to treat a woman like that, you savage! Didn't your mother teach you any manner?!"

The teen blonde got up, looking at her, smiling. "Get that out your system?" he asked, making her groan in slight annoyance. "By the way, what's your name?"

She looked at him, sighing. Seeing as they're gonna be neighbors, there's no point in not introducing themselves. "The name's Ashley. Ashley Sparks."

"Colby Carsen." he introduced himself, extending his hand. She took it and shook it, giving a slightly sinister, but warm smile. "See you around or something?" he said as he began to walk back to his room, only to be stopped.

"Really?" Ashley questioned him, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. "You really think like that, apologize, and bam you're automatically forgiven?" she tilted her head slightly raising a brow.

Colby sighed, turning to her. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy..." he smiled to her. "How about a date then? Does this Saturday work?"

She only shrugged. "Sure. Works for me."

"Awesome!" he said walking back to his open room door. "It's official!" he stated quickly closing the door. Ashley only shook her head.

* * *

The day slowly trailed into the evening. The academy was quiet, the blonde was rested beside the windows. But something awoke him. His watch was beeping a low tone. It was distracting him and his dormmate from sleeping.

"What the?..." he slurred his words, turning his head to his left wrist, sighing. He looked at the digital clock on the counter, where his family picture was. It was 3:05 in the morning. Great.

They both heard a loud alarm blare, and it wasn't the alarm clock. They both got out their beds, groaning while they covered their ears.

"What is that?!" Colby yelled, as he couldn't hear anything through the obnoxious ringing in his ears.

"It's some type of emergency siren!" Mitchell yelled back, reaching the door and opening it. They both saw a crowd of students walk in one direction. They decided to follow, trying to keep up to the best of their abilities.

* * *

It didn't take long for the two students to be consumed by the swarm of teens and young adults. When the crowd stopped, they were at the college lunch lobby. Most were panicky, as you could expect, but not Colby. He was just...confused. Bragen however...was being himself: almost motionless.

"Attention. Attention. All students, please calm yourselves." a teacher said, standing on a lunch table, so that others could see him. Everyone had calmed themselves to the best they could. "No need to panic. There is an event happening in the business district of the city. All people and aliens around are being told to get to safety until further notice."

"Business district? But my mom lives there!" he yelled, but it was muffled by the hundreds of voices in the dining area. He looked around, and saw an open door, leading to the bathroom. He turned to his roommate. He gained an idea.

"Bragen, I need to go to the bathroom. Could you stall for me if someone asks?" he requested of Mitchell.

"Okay. Although I doubt anyone would asks something specific like that." he replied in his usual monotone voice. Colby then ran for the door and closed it upon entry.

The boy fiddled with the watch vigorously, until the wheel and hologram popped up. "Okay. You helped me once...let's see if you can do it again." he pressed the check mark on the wheel, and like before, the top moved itself to the side, showing the green and black cylinder popping up. He slammed it down, being covered in a green and yellow light. His skin started to turn pale white, his eyes turning completely green. Grey and black patches appeared on his arms and knees as he started to form moth like wings on his back.

The teen sprouted his moth like wings, stretching them about. He looked at his long fingers, confused at what to do now. "Oh...yeah. Now I have to get out of here...but how?" he questioned himself. he began to lean on a sink, but his hand had turned intangible, making him fall to the ground in a big thud. "Ow...wait..."


	3. Chapter 3-Death of Ben 10

It didn't take long for the moth like humanoid to escape the college grounds. Everyone was in the mess hall as instructed, and security wasn't all that secure. But they were supposed to make sure no one got in, not to make sure someone got out.

The transformed teen flew through the air, looking down at the ground to the best of his abilities to find nothing. "Mom...where are you?..." he asked himself. His attention was then turned to an explosion not far from him. Something was definitely wrong. He flew as fast as he could to the source of smoke in the distance.

When he arrived, he landed being covered in green and yellow light before changing back to his human form. He ran as fast as could, until he finally reached his destination: Bellwood Memorial Park. There he had seen something of true aw. A dinosaur like creature was facing off against an octopus like monster in armor, and the monster was winning.

The dinosaur had slammed the tentacle covered...thing, into the ground, leaving a huge crater, growing as it had slammed its fists into him. Once it had finished, the creature had grabbed a truck from the sidewalk, raising it into the air.

"I...will destroy everything, and everyone you love...Tennyson!" the monster shouted, struggling to get up.

"Could you do it...QUIETLY!" the Dino creature replied in rage, smashing the vehicle down several times, before stopping weakly. Breathing heavily as it was covered in the same green and yellow light as Colby. A teen with brown hair and a black and green T-shirt had fallen in the place of the creature, coughing up blood.

"Ben!" a woman shouted, running to the boy. She had ginger colored hair, neatly cut, with glasses and a blue shirt. She had picked up the ten's head, pressing against the right side of his stomach, as blood was leaking from it. "Ben, hold on. The ambulance is coming."

"Gwen..." the bleeding teen muttered, a smile across his face.

"Kevin!" she yelled, as a crowd began to form around them. A man in a black and grey shirt with black tame hair had run over. "We need to stop the bleeding!" she told the man, who pressed his hand where she had.

The ginger then stood, her hands glowing purple, aimed at the wound. She was trying to seal it, but was stopped by an utter of words.

"Don't..." the laying boy demanded. His voice was weak in that sentence, but it carried enough volume for everyone to hear, in shock.

"What do you mean don't?" Kevin asked, staring at him as he started to smile.

"I've tried, time and time again, to save the people of this planet. Human or not." the bleeding teen stated. "But everytime I do that, people pay...I've tried so hard, but I end up killing more people than I save..."

"No you don't! You're a hero, Ben!" Gwen stated, a tear streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry...but...this world needs a new hero..." he continued, grabbing her hand with his eyes struggling to stay open. "I couldn't save those people...but...I saved you, and Kevin, and...Julie...I'm at least glad for that..."

"Snap out of it Tennyson! We're gonna get you better, okay?" Kevin stated, trying to convince him.

"But don't you see...I did it...I saved you...I...did..." his hand fell to the ground and his body went limp. Tears were in his eyes, but a smile upon his face as he closed his eyes permanently.

"Ben...Ben! Ben, wake up! We don't want to lose you!" Gwen shook the limp body, to find no response, causing tears to flood down her cheeks as Kevin grabbed her. She only struggled trying to reach for the body.

A girl had broke out the crowd, running to the teen corpse, trying to make eye contact with it. Tears started flowing down her face as she held him in her arms, letting out sobs of despair. Gwen had turned to hug Kevin, who only turned away from the sight.

Colby walked over kneeling down to the girl, trying to comfort her. "He meant a lot to you, didn't he?" he asked, making her look up and nod.

"He was the best thing that ever happened to me, and Earth..." she only continued to bawl.

The blonde looked over to the boy in her arms, a look of guilt as he stared down his watch. He could have saved him, but he didn't.

* * *

Colby laid in his bed back at Bellwood Academy, with a clear look of stress over his face. It didn't exactly bother his roommate very much. It was just silence in 20A.

"Okay then, tell me. What is the matter?" Bragen asked in his roommate, rather emotionless, which wasn't uncommon for him.

"Nothing, just...stressed..." Colby replied, looking at his watch, angry at not it, but himself at the loss of a hero, and him not stopping it. He picked himself up from the bed, sitting on it and looking down.

"Well, since you won't let me know, I'll just have to wish you good luck." Mitchell ended the conversation laying into his bed and pulling up the covers.

The young blonde sighed, getting up from the bed and walking to the door, opening it and walking out. He turned his attention to the door right in front of him. Room 20B. He heard crying through the wall. Weird. He didn't take Ashley for much of a crier. So it had to be someone else. It was none of business, but he had decided to knock on the entrance anyway.

Ashley had opened the door, eyeballing at the young adult. "Hey." she greeted him in an annoyed tone.

"Hey," he responded quickly, getting to the point of why he was there. "Is someone crying in there, or am I hearing things?"

"Yeah, it's my roommate. She's a little torn up, one of her family members just died." she replied looking down at her sneakers. "He was killed by a gunshot wound..."

"Oh that's bad, huh..." he looked at his wrist watch, then sighed.

"Yeah. Someone outta pay mind to the human criminals too, instead of the alien ones. Most of the police are only focused on the people that breathe fire or have gills for lungs."

"Yeah...there should be..." he smiled. He had gained an idea. A way to use his transformation watch. It was too good to pass up.

* * *

It was 10 days after the death of the hero Ben Tennyson. The city was still torn up about it. Especially today of all days. It was his funeral.

The entire city gathered around the church, paying their respects to their fallen protector. From the cars to the entrance.

Colby had stood there, with a look of guilt instead of mourn, like everyone else. As the Tennyson family members and friends walked down the aisle, a girl turned her eyes to look at him. It was the same one as before, with black hair resembling that of Gwen. She walked over and asked, "It's you..."

Colby looked up, surprised that she would even recognize him. "Yeah, it's me..." he replied, he mouth open slightly after he finished his sentence.

"About your question...yes, he was." she said, with a hint of sorrow in her voice. "He was the best thing to happen to this planet. He used his powers to save people, and in the end...that's all he could do..."

Colby only looked down, shoving his hands into his pocket and sighing. Before he felt it was his fault that someone died, that was it. Now, he could feel guilty on a whole new level. Ben Tennyson died before his time. He was taken away from his family, and deserved to live so much longer. To get married, to have kids, to grow old. All that was taken from him, and now he'll never get to experience any of that.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, making the young adult turn, his face showing anger. He began to push through the crowd behind him out to the street, running to an alley and leaving the girl to walk into the building.

Colby continued to run, activating the hologram, changing it as he spins the wheel. He looked at the hologram in curiosity of the transformation. He accepted it and let the top of the watch move aside, letting the cylinder pop up, with him slamming on it, and being covered in green and yellow lights.


	4. Chapter 4-DNA Gridlock

Smoke consumed part of the street corner, a building had been blown open from the inside, with up to three men in hockey masks walking out, carrying bags of cash, and grins.

"That was easier than I thought." one of the robbers said, walking to a convertible Buick and throwing the cash into the backseat.

"Without Tennyson around, things should be runnin' smother." said another, more bulky robber.

"Oh, Boss is gonna be so proud of yes!" said the final, skinnier one, raising his arms in the air, celebrating all the money they had stolen.

"I wouldn't be so sure!" all three of them heard, looking up to the rooftops in front of them, seeing a figure of orange and yellow flame, with a body of red and brown rocks. His arms were crossed as he stared down at the three criminals. He had jumped down, landing on his feet and walking to the, slowly. "Really, guys? This idea is horribly too cliché. You know that?" he asked in a dehydrated sounding voice.

"Tennyson!" the skinny one screamed, hiding behind the rear end of the car, peeping his eyes out in fear.

The flaming figure looked at the terrified robber, rubbing his lit up head. "Uh...is he okay?" he turned his head to the muscle and... _ZOINKS!_

The big robber had pulled out a Mini-Plasma Machine Gun, firing purple rounds at the flaming hero, who was running away.

The fire human continued to run, the shots getting closer. He wasn't a good shot. That much he could tell. "Tell me this guy can fly!" he yelled, holding his arms out and his palms open. He jumped up, and fire had escaped his hands, propelling him into the air. He smiled flying into the sky. "WOOHOO!" he screamed. Then he stopped.

His fire had stopped sending him higher, letting gravity do the work. "Oh come on!" he yell, falling towards the earth. He adjusted himself, and soon faced the ground head-on, using his flames to propel himself to the street. "Okay...I can do this...I can do this...I can't do this!" but it was too late to stop it. He was about to make contact in 3...2... "Ah shi-"

A small mushroom cloud be seen in the distance. The flame made teen looked up, coughing and shaking off dust and debris. He saw the three criminal on the ground, getting up. Some...slower than others.

"Huh...guess it's the slammers for you guys." the flaming hero said, standing in a hero like pose. "I don't know what the sentence actually is. All I know is you're getting locked up for a long time, buddies." he then heard beeping, emitting from the green and black plate symbol on his chest.

 _"Code Name Acknowledged. Multimatrix DNA Lock Up activated."_ the symbol glowed, changing its color to whit and black, leaving the flame covered man confused.

"Uh, what?" he asked himself, tapping on the chest plate several times over. Nothing happened. "Oh boy..."

They all then heard a vehicle pull up. It was an orange truck, with a plumbing company logo on it. The vehicle had drifted to a stop, with a man covered in blue fur and a suit getting out, aiming some type of weapon at him. "Freeze! You are under arrest by the authority of the plumbers!"

"Don't worry dude. I already took care of them." the flaming hero stated, pointing to the crooks on the ground. He grinned, but then realized something...the weapon was pointed at him.

"You have the right to remain silent, Pyronite. Anything you say, or do can and will be used against you in a court of law." the blue fur man continued on. "If you are a telepath, you have the right to reframe from all thought. Anything you think or cause will be held against you."

"Woah Woah Woah! I'm not the bad guy here! I just helped out stopping those guys!" the Pyronite pointed to where the criminals were, but they were gone. "Wha-what?! No!"

"The only thing I see, is the large amount of destruction you caused to this street block." the blue officer replied, pointing to a building.

The fire man looked at the building with wide eyes and an opened jaw. The building was in flames, about to fall over. He slowly turned his head to the man, a sweatdrop on his face. "Now, I can explain-" before he could finish, he was shot by the officer in an electric wave, covering him in a net and knocking him out.

' _Worst...hero day...ever...'_

* * *

It took a while for the Pyronite known as Colby to wake up. When he did, he was harnessed to a metal chair, facing a table. He looked down and sure enough, he was still on fire. He sighed, then looked up seeing the fur covered man from before, tilting his head. "You, uh...got something on your face buddy."

The man only stared at the teen, confused, patting his cheeks to find nothing. "There is nothing on his face." he replied. "My name is Rook Blonko of the Plumbers. You have been apprehended."

"What?" the flaming man looked surprised. "But I'm innocent! I was trying to help stop those hockey-mask guys!"

"The Terror Triplets?" the officer asked, looking at the ground, pondering.

"Yeah." the young adult looked at his flaming body, confused. "Hey, how long have I been out?"

Rook looked at the clock on the wall, calculating how long it took. "Approximately 1 hour."

"Weird, this thing usually turns me back after 15 to 20 minutes..."

"What is this you are referring too?" the furry teen asked, but before he could get an answer, the door had opened, and the pair from before had walked in. Gwen and Kevin.

"Ah balls..." the Pyronite let out a huffed of hot air, looking up at the two. "Have I seen you two before?"

"Okay, start talking!" the woman slammed her fist on the table, frightening the young man.

"About what?!" he shouted back, looking down at his chest plate. "I'm just a normal person, like all of you!" he looked at Rook, trying to take back what he said. Why bother? He was as normal as anyone else on his planet.

"I doubt that matters when you turned an entire city block into ash, buddy." Kevin retorted, smiling at his own words.

"And on all days." Gwen continued in a voice of rage. "Do you have any idea what today even is? I lost my cousin because he was trying to protect people like you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Colby closed his eyes. He could only think of what Ben went through to save the universe. And he was supposed to step up and take his place? "Look, I'm actually human, stuck in this...hey Furry, what did you call me earlier?"

"A...Pyronite..." Rook only stared at the flaming figure, dumbfounded. How could a member of a race forget its own species name?

"Yeah Pyronite." he continued, turning to the human couple. "Stuck in this Pyronite body. This isn't the first time. First it was this blob that works machines. Then it was this moth thing that moves through walls."

"Wait..." Kevin stopped Colby. "You mean Upgrade and Bigchill?"

"Upgrade and what now?"

The man walked closer, poking the metal plate on the Pyronite's chest. "How'd you get this?"

"I got it from a meteor that curved down into the Junkyard." he stated, hearing the table be thrown into the wall.

"Liar! A meteor doesn't just curve down!" Gwen yelled out in anger as pink energy staticed around her hand.

"Well look at me! I'm supposed to be a normal person by now, but for some reason this thing hasn't timed out!" Colby snapped back, grabbing both Rook and Gwen's attention. But not Kevin. He saw it clear as day.

"This guy has an Omnitrix." Kevin stated to the others, shocking them. "Just who are you anyway, and what are you doing with this thing?"

"The name's Colby Carsen. What I'm doing, was stopping the badguys." the Pyronite stated.

"Earlier today he had attempted to apprehend the Terror Triplet." Rook mentioned.

"Really? Police's been trying to get them for months..." Kevin said, pondering on what to do.

"And I would've had them, if it weren't for you guys. Now can you change me back, and let me go?"

"I do not understand." Rook stated, putting his hand on his chin. "You have an Omnitrix. Can you revert back to your original form."

Colby sighed, looking at Rook. "No Blonko, I can't. Like I said before, I should've timed out by now! Now can you fix it or not?"

"Depends. Did you bust it?" the man asked.

"I don't know..." the Pyronite answered.

"What happened before you couldn't change back?" he asked.

"Well, I beat the Triplets and then it just said DNA Lock Up Active or something."

Kevin slapped his palm into his face, groaning. "Great. You activated DNA Lock Mode..."

"And that's bad, am I right?" the flaming hero asked rhetorically.

"Only if ya think being trapped as an alien forever is bad." he stated, with a slight douchey grin.

"WHAT?!" he yelled in terror, wiggling in his seat, trying to pry his way out. "CHANGE ME BACK! PLEASE!"

Kevin pondered, looking back at Gwen, who was giving her usual stern look, and Rook, who was still dumbfounded by the newfound information. "Okay. We'll change you back, on one condition: You help us find the Terror Triplets, and bring them in."

"Deal. Anything. Just turn me back to normal!" suddenly they all heard a beeping noise as the chest plate started blinking green.

 _"Transformation sequence activated."_ It stated, making Colby grin in excitement.

Green and yellow lights engulfed him, his skin became white and green with three green orbs on his waist and arms, with his hands turning stubby with four fingers. His body shrunk to the size of a child, with three green fins on his head.

Colby looked at himself with a grin, but it then faded. He looked his hands, letting his jaw drop. "What? What happened?!" he screamed, holding his face in his hands.

"You turned into Ditto." Kevin poked the child sized man in the head, smirking.

"How do I change back?" the child sized teen looked at the metal plate, which was now on the back of his left hand. He tapped it vigorously, growing more aggressive at it. "Great. And now I turned into...Ditto?"

"Ditto is a Splixson. He has the ability to multiply himself at will." Rook explained to Colby.

Ditto looked at himself, pondering. He tried to concentrate, thinking on one thing, but he couldn't do it. "Ah man..." suddenly he felt a four fingered stubby hand on him. "Don't worry buddy, you'll get it." said Ditto 2, with a big grin.

The original jumped back, surprised, and starred at his copy, amazed. "It...it worked?...awesome!" they both stated, dancing there own funny dance with eachother, until one of them was pushed into the wall with pink energy, the other groaning in pain.

"Gwen!" Kevin yelled at his girlfriend.

"This thing's gone on long enough." she stated. "Look at him! He's incapable of using that thing..."

"So was Ben," Kevin retorted, walking to the Splixson duplicate and pulling him out the wall. "That didn't stop him from anything." he only heard a sigh from her, then he turned to the child size alien on the ground. "It's a deal then."

* * *

A small orange truck drove down the streets of bellwood, with Rook behind the wheel, as it was his main mode of transportation. Kevin had taken the passenger seat and Gwen was in the back with the two Splixsons known as Colby. She was unamused.

The copy of Ditto was tapping on his originals Omnitrix symbol, twisting and turning it. "It won't come off!" Ditto 2 stated. "Then try harder!" the original stated. "I'm doing my best here!"

"Will you two stop arguing?!" Gwen shouted at them, but was surprised by their reaction.

"Stay out of it!" they both talked back in unison. "This isn't any of your concern! Got it, Gwen?!"

She only pouted, crossing her arms and looking away to the wall.

Then truck stopped, causing the twin Dittos to fall into a seat in the front, then to the floor, moaning in each others pain. They slowly got up, looking at the driver and rubbing their heads. "Jeez..." "Care to give us a heads up next time?"

"I apologize, Colby Carsen. I assumed you were wearing seatbelts." Rook looked at the two, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

"Dude, don't call us Colby Carsen." "Yeah, just call us Colby, man."

He pondered, then smiled. "Very well, Colby-man."

The two aliens looked at themselves, then slammed their hands into their heads. "Boy golly...this is gonna be a long day..." they both stated, walking to the back of the truck, opening the dual doors and hopping out. They saw they were at the bank where the triplets were. "What?" But we were already here."

"Exactly." Kevin stated, getting out the truck and to the back to help Gwen out. "That means you should be able to track them."

"Woah! Me?" "You mean we!" the two Dittos argued. "You're me, idiot!" "What if you're me, huh?" "I am! We're the same person!"

Gwen sighed, frustration building up as he looked at the two child sized aliens bicker. "Unbelievable! How is he supposed to find the Triplets?"

"We don't know! Okay?!" the duplicate snapped back. "We just got this thing, and barely know what it does!" "Much less do we know anything in it that tracks things!" suddenly, they all heard a beeping from the metal plate on Colby's Ditto hand, and both copies gulped. "Oops!"

Colby became covered in a bright green and yellow lights, but instead of his changing, the veins in his left arm swelled, extending to the rest of his body as he can feel a primal instinct take over. He fell on all fours, becoming covered in orange fur, with a mighty roar.

"Wildmutt!" Kevin announced with a grin, then saw Gwen give another stern look. "He can't exactly speak, remember?"

The fur covered teen snarled, in human frustration. The beast turned his body to the three others, whining at them.

Rook walked over to Wildmutt, pulling his wespon from his shoulder and changing its form. It didn't look like a futuristic looking gun now. It looked like some kind of hook. He pointed the device to Colby, who just snarled.

"I understand. This is all new to you." Rook stated. He seemed to understand what the animal was saying. Wildmutt only snarled in response. "When this is all said and done, we will do the best in our abilities to revert you to normal." the fur covered teen stated. They all heard whining of frustration from the orange beast as he started to look around, sniffing the ground.

"How could you?..." Gwen started, slightly confused.

"I was able to use the prototool to translate the what Colby was saying." Rook explained with a smile.

They all heard a roar from the orange beast. He had found something. He began to run on all fours, following the scent left behind by the criminals. He stopped at alley. It was a deadend. The others caught up, dumbfounded.

Kevin looked around, then at Wildmutt. "Well...where is it?" he asked.

"Oh. I understand." Rook said, walking to the wall and pulling out the weapon on his shoulder once more. He pointed the device at the brick wall, moving it around, until finally he stopped. "The Terror Triplets are using underground network tunnels to travel."

"That would explain why the police could never find them." Gwen concluded with her eyes turning pink, with energy forming from her fingertips. Part of the wall became covered in a pink color, moving back and up, and revealing a secret dirt pathway. It was going down.

"They operated in Undertown?" Kevin scratched his head. Then he thought about it. Most of the police probably think only aliens go to Undertown, so it was a perfect place to hide.

Colby growled, running on all fours into the entrance, any care was clearly at the back of his mind. Rook and Kevin soon followed. Gwen just walked.

The orange beast soon stopped, smelling around his new surroundings. He was on ground, obviously. There were many new scents in the radius. He smelled Rook and Kevin enter the area, and turned his head around, sniffing at them.

"They must still be here." Rook stated, turning to his comrades. "Wildmutt would have followed any new scent by now."

Colby growled in agreement, looking at the building in front of him. Suddenly, the metal plate on the collar around his neck started to beep once more. The animal howled in excitement, being covered in a green and yellow glow.

His skin began to turn blue, with his head gaining an aerodynamic helmet like head and a slimmer body. His feet pulled backwards, forming balls for feet. his hands began to thin, turning into three blade like appendages, as well as growing a long blue tail with black stripes.

The teen looked at himself, clamping his three fingers with a smile. "What does this one do?"

Gwen walked by, adjusting her glasses and looking to Colby. "That's XLR8. By the name, he's fast."

"Say no more!" in a flash he sped through Undertown in seconds, and in seconds he returned. "Found them! In some old alien bar named the Black Hole."

"Got it." Kevin replied, cracking his knuckles. "We got this."

* * *

The bar was half full, with all kinds of alien species. The only three humans at table, stomaching down purple and blue drinks. The skinniest enjoying it.

"So, what about that Pyronite earlier?" the brute of the three asked, setting his hands down to grab a glass, crushing it in his palm.

"You mean Tennyson?" the smaller, muscular one. "Something was off with him. Like he didn't know what he was doing."

"Maybe it was amnesia?" suggested the skinny one. The other two only stared at him. "Or maybe it wasn't Tennyson?"

"Eddy, that's stupid." said the bulky of the three.

"No no Edd..." the average sized human stopped them both. "Maybe he's right..."

The brute known as Edd rolled his eyes, leaning back into his chair with a huff. "So what? Ed you know he almost took us out right?"

"Yes, but he didn't. Think about that, huh?" Ed replied, getting up and walking over to the bathroom.

Eddy turned his head to the larger robber with a smirk. "Relax big bro. It could have so much worse."

They both suddenly felt breezy wind as XLR8 entered the room in a blue and green blur. "The jig's up buddy!" he stated, running to the as fast as he could. He ran into the wall and fell on his back, dazed. "Ow..."

The skinniest of the triplets jumped out his seat, beginning to run to the door, being stopped by a silver Kevin cracking his knuckles. Eddy then tried to run the other way, passing Colby as he got back on his feet.

"Okay...this guy is was to fast...I need to wrap this thing up..." he heard beeping and saw green flashing from the Omnitrix symbol. He then became covered in green and yellow lights.

The teen figure became covered in green vines, with a spiked yellow and red head and a black face. Red and yellow petals grew on his shoulders, with green petals on his arms. He opened his now green and black eyes in a flexing pose. "SWAMPFIRE!"

Swampfire looked at himself, confused on what he had just shouted. "Why did I say that?" he sniffed himself, and gagged. "Why do I smell?" a shot was suddenly fired, hitting the plant like humanoid in the abdomen, and setting a hole in it. Colby turned his eyes to the brute, who was holding the plasma Minigun. "Oh come on!"

The brute began to fire rapidly as Swampfire began to run through the bar, dodging as many shots as he could. He was shot in his right arm, and left leg, ducking over the counter.

"Okay...what does this guy do?" he questioned himself, looking at his disfigured hand. He was surprised. Vines from his body were filling the openings of his wounds. The teen smirked. "Okay, awesome...but I'm gonna need more than that..." a small ball of fire engulfed the palm of his hand, making Colby grin wide. "That'll do!" he jumped over the counter, chucking the ball of fire at the brute, knocking the minigun out his hands.

The skinniest one hopped around the room, laughing in amusement with Kevin running after him. "Catch me if you can, slow poke!"

"Get back here you little-!" Kevin shouted, turning his right hand into a sword and swinging it at the triplet, slicing the tables in the process. He then stopped, seeing Eddy swing on a pipe, taunting him. "That's it! Get over here!" he jumped at him, watching the criminal drop from the ceiling pipe and letting him fly into a table, breaking it. The silver man puffed in frustration.

The average looking triplet walked out the bathroom, seeing the chaos outside and groaning. He grabbed the rifle on his back, aiming it at Kevin, until it was knocked out his hands by an orange energy shot. He looked to the source, growing. It was Rook, putting his weapon in his hand, transforming into a Tonfa.

"Bring it, bro!" Rook stated, putting up his hands. The criminal charged at him, trying to land a punch. He was countered with the weapon in the blue fur teen's hand, causing him to be pushed back. Rook quickly pulled himself to the floor, swinging his leg over to Ed's ankle and sending him down to the ground.

Kevin continued to chase Eddy, transforming his arm into a hook. The skinny child like man jumped up once more onto a pipe, as a body was thrown at Kevin, knocking him down.

"Ahh..." Colby groaned, slowly getting on his feet with Kevin. He saw the brute and stepped back. "Hey man, let's switch, okay?" he said in terror.

"Sure. Works for me." the silver man replied, jumping at the bulkiest.

Swampfire sighed, lookin at Eddy, fireballs appearing in his hands. "This one I can do..." he chucked one ball after another. None of them seemed to hit, making the plant like humanoid huff. "Yeah, I expect much." he looked in his other hand, and saw seeds grow out his palm. "Well, I got nothing else..." he threw the seeds at the criminal, letting them fall into the cracks of the floor.

"What was that?" Eddy asked Colby, breaking out into a laugh. "That was pathetic!" then they both heard a sound. The cracks in the floor were overflowing with vines, reaching out to the skinny man, and grabbing his ankles, soon the rest of his body.

The vine covered teen only looked at him, surprised on what seeds have accomplished. His seeds! "Okay...that's cool!"

Kevin and Edd struggled against each other. Their hands were locked together, and both were forcing their strength on one another. Kevin groaned, pushing his hardest, and pushing the brute against him a small bit, then sending him into the ground.

The silver man quickly got on top of the brute, morphing his hand into a bigger fist. "Nighty night!" he punched the brute in the face, knocking him out.

Ed quickly ran through the room, out the door of the bar and down the street. He stopped himself when he saw Gwen stand there, with a group of police men behind her. The robber sighed, looking down.

* * *

It didn't take long for the police to apprehend the other two. They were put into a SWAT van, cuffed in plasma bindings.

"We're going to jail, aren't we?" Eddy asked his brute brother as they were directed into the van by the officers.

"Yeah...don't worry, we can handle it." the average of the three replied, sitting on a bench.

Colby walked out the bar, sighing, and then smiling. It was over, and now all he needed to do was change back. He turned to see Kevin and Gwen, along with Rook inside the bar, and walked to them.

"Okay, I did as asked. Now you gotta finish your side of the bargain." Swampfire stated, tapping the metal plate on his chest.

Kevin only looked at the plant like humanoid, a smile on his face. "You seriously haven't figured it out?"

"Figured what out?" the teen asked.

"Okay, repeat after me." the Osmosian ordered. "DNA Lock Up Deactivate."

Colby's jaw dropped. That's all it took? Just that simple phrase? He risked his life for that simple sentence? The teen sighed. "Unbelievable..." he mumbled. "DNA Lock Up Deactivate." he repeated, hearing beeping from his chest.

He was covered in shining green and yellow lights. When the light dimmed, he had returned to his human state. His normal blonde hair and white and green jacket. The watch was on his wrist still. He was normal again.

"Thanks, guys." Colby said with a smile.

"It was our pleasure." Rook replied.

"You know, there is a place where you can get used to that thing." Gwen stated, gesturing the white and green watch on the young man's wrist.

"Like what? An insane asylum?" the blonde joked.

"No, like a place with people like us, and you." she replied.

Colby pondered for a second. It would be a good opportunity to figure out what this thing is. Find out a way he could use it to protect others. To save so many people...

"I'll sleep on it." he said, walking away, and activating the hologram and wheel. Scrolling through it with a smile.

Anything he does now is up to him...


	5. Chapte 5-A Night to Remember

The day rolled slowly for any other words. It was a Friday, the start of a week long break. All the students of the college were already packed to go home, except for some, who either didn't want to leave, because they wanted to experience a break away from home, or were just too plain lazy. Colby was definitely one of the two.

The blonde teen walked the halls of the dorm, to the room of 20A, putting in his key and twisting the lock. He looked around, wouldn't you know it, the place seemed pretty empty. But he heard some footsteps. Some of the other kids were too lazy to leave or just didn't want to. Colby turned his head to see his Co Ed neighbor, Ashley walk to her room door, then watched as she folded her arms, looking at him.

"Hey, Ashley. What's up?" the blonde asked. He got only silence from the orangette. "How's your day?" still silence. It was rather awkward.

"You're seriously not gonna say it?" she questioned the young man, confusing him. "Or does your memory just suck completely?"

"What are you talking about?" Colby asked her. He was truly lost. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew what she was talking about.

"You, Colby Carsen, owe me a date." Ashley stated, uncrossing her arms. "Since last time you stood me up."

"Sorry about that." he replied. "But it was something important."

"It might as well have been, but it doesn't excuse you right now, does it?" the young woman retorted with a smile. "So, what time then?"

The blonde thought for a moment. He was free...all week, somewhere between that time. "How about tonight at 6:30?"

She nodded, opening the door to her room and walking through. "It's a date." she slammed the door, leaving Colby in the hall. He opened his own door, and walked through.

The young blonde sat down on the bed nearest to the window, folding his arms while looking down. "It's a date..."

* * *

The day inched away, further and further, and the evening began. The college was fairly quiet, though it wasn't a complete ghost town. The halls seemed empty, and the parking lot wasn't full of much cars.

Ashley leaned against her door, looking at the wall across from her. She sighed, tapping the back of her sneakers into the wooden door behind her. "Yeah, I thought as much..." the clock said 6:39. Colby was nine minutes late. 6:40. Ten minutes late. The young woman chuckled, stepping away from the door and turning to it. She heard a light knock. She motioned towards the door, grabbing the knob, and twisting it.

The door opened, showing the blonde young man in his zipped up white and green jacket. He held flowers in his hand, with a smile on his face. "Sorry I'm late." he apologized. "First I had to get my car, then I thought you would like some flowers. But I didn't know which ones you like, so-" he was interrupted from his sentence, feeling the orangette gently grab his hand. He soon blushed.

"Thanks." she said, grabbing the flowers from him and putting them close. "For future reference though, we're friends at best right now. No need for any flowers."

"Really?" Colby scratched his head, slightly in frustration of himself. "I'll keep that in mind." he then placed a hand on his jacket zipper, pulling it down and going the yellowT-shirt underneath. The then began to walk. "Co'mon, let's go." the young woman followed.

When Ashley arrived outside, she saw Colby lean against his white and red car, looking down at the white and green watch on his left wrist. She began to walk to the car, passing by the young blondes attention. "Hey, Colby? Earth to Colby."

Colby quickly turned, raising his right hand up above his left, facing Ashley. Once he realized who it was, he calmed down and got back into his normal straight stance. "Oh, it's you..."

"Yeah...who else were you expecting?" the orangette questioned, receiving a fake cough as a response. "Did you just fake cough me?"

"What? No." Colby quickly replied, shaking his head.

"You totally did." she retorted. Then sighed. "Never mind...let's say we get going, huh?"

"Sure." the blonde walked around the front of the car, and opened the passenger door for her.

"Colby, seriously?" Ashley folded her arms, glaring at him.

"What? I was opening the door. What's wrong with that?" he asked. He was honestly confused with what he did wrong. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

The young woman sighed, shaking her head. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's just that..." she groaned, trying to find the right words. "This is an informal date. A date between friends. Not a date on Tinder."

"Yeah...but it's no excuse, is it?" Colby grinned, walking to the driver's side and opening the door, sitting into the driver's seat, and turning the key in the ignition. They both heard the engine start to roar. "Well? You getting in or what?"

* * *

It took about 10 minutes for the two to leave the college campus, drive into town, and find a good parking space in a parking lot. Both walked the streets of Bellwood, as casual as they could. It was an informal date, after all.

Colby looked around, shoving his hands into his pockets. He saw his destination right in front of him. The Theater. They had just released the new Sumo Slammers Movie: Sumo Slammers 3: Slammers Revenge.

"This is it?" Ashley questioned the blonde.

"Yeah." he replied with a smile, which slowly went away as he looked at her. "Unless you don't want to see it?"

"No, I'm fine with it." she smiled, walking to the entry. She turned to face the young man. "Well? You coming?"

Colby smiled. Following her into the building. 'I think I like this girl...' he thought.

* * *

The two sat together in the theater, side by side...surrounding by hundreds of people. Great...

Colby looked at the big screen with a grin, as his favorite Sumo Slammers character was completely decimating an entire room of samurai warriors. When he turned his head, he saw Ashley show her devilish beautiful smile. It was enchanting to him. He didn't know why but...it was.

The movie had finally ended, and the pair had walked outside with the rest of the viewers. Colby had his hands shoved in his pants pockets, with Ashley beside him. Smiles on both their faces.

"That. Was. Awesome!" the orangette shouted out loud. "Like...I am at loss for words!"

The young blonde chuckled. "Oh really? It was pretty good for what it was. I just wish Kyomodo got more screen time."

"Yeah, true..." she agreed. "But he was the villain after all."

"Yeah, but I just think he didn't get more character development for his moments." the blonde teen crossed the street, with his date soon following. He walked to the entrance of a nearby building on the corner, going through the door and holding it for the young lady, who scolded him, but sighed. It was no getting it through his thick skull, but at least it was something small and harmless.

They both sat down at a table near the windows. The young teen easing into his wooden chair at looking down at the menu. "Welcome to Bobby's Burgers, Ashley. The best burger place in town." Colby stretched out his arms with a grin, now staring at orangette, who only smiled.

"I know this place. I've gone here when I was younger." Ashley stated, quickly grabbing the menu, then putting it back on the table just as fast.

"You figured out what you want to order? Already?" the young blonde asked her. It was really that surprising. She used to come here after all.

"A Bobby Deluxe with a Slider Burger and Chili Fries." she replied, putting her elbows on the table. "I always get that."

"Really? I always get those too!" the young blonde stated. "Well, I get a Cheese Burger instead, but we can't both be identical."

"True." the orangette agree, nodding her head in response.

They both heard beeping. the type of beeping from a malfunctioning machine for lack of better words. It wasn't anything recognizable to Ashley. But Colby knew the sound anywhere.

The blonde looked down at the white and green watch on his left wrist. The device attached to him was flashing yellow.

"Is something wrong?" the young woman asked him.

"No. Everything's fine." the young blonde replied, getting up from his seat. "Hold on one second, okay?" he turned and ran out the door to the building.

"Yeah...sure..." Ashley agreed, speaking to herself and letting her head hang. She knew he was lying when he said everything was fine. But he lied for a reason. That much she does know.

Colby continued to run, reaching the alley of the restaurant and pinning himself against the wall. He grabbed his left wrist and stared down the watch. "Okay, what's wrong with you now?" he fiddled with the activation button. Everything came up like last time. So what was wrong?

 _"DNA Encryption Detected. DNA Dencryption Activated."_ the device spoke.

"What are you talking about?" the wearer questioned. The watch had stopped its beeping, with its lights turning yellow instead of green. The young adult groaned at this. Yet another phase he didn't know about. "Okay, fine. Just don't turn me into another monster while I'm on this date, will ya?" he began to walk back to where he was supposed to be. His date.

* * *

The young man had returned to the restaurant, walking to his wooden seat and sitting down, facing the young woman in front of him.

"Sorry. That was a call from...my insurance company." Colby lied again.

"Yeah okay. Let's hope your insurance company doesn't run out of insurance." she replied with a smile.

He smiled an innocent smile and looked down at the table. Their orders arrived. Two Bobby Deluxes. One with a cheese burger and one with a slider. Both had Chili Fries.

"Thanks for ordering Ashley. I swear I'll pay for it all." the blonde stated.

"Yeah, you better." Ashley agreed. "Atleast for your meal.

The blonde took a hand full of fries from his cup, leading them to his mouth and chewing on them. Gulping them down. Ashley did the same, only more feminine like.

After a few minutes of conversation, the couple had decided to leave the building, taking their food to go. Each of them were holding their own bag, so as to not mix them up. They were walking across the block to the parking lot, and to his car. Smiles on both their faces.

"I had a great time." Ashley stated, leaning forward to see her date.

"Yeah. So did I." Colby replied, walking to the driver side door. "So, am I forgiven?"

The girl pondered, putting her finger on her chin. "Mm...yes. Colby Carsen, you are forgiven."

* * *

The white and red race car hit the road. The driver drove through the streets calmly, with a smile. Nothing could ruin this day...ah balls.

Colby hit the brakes at a red light, stopping the car and waiting for green. His passenger looked out the window, seeing an orange star in the sky.

"Huh. That's a weird looking star." Ashley stated, grabbing the young males attention and making him look out the window. He couldn't believe it. The flying star was curving through the air, near them.

"Hold on!" Colby demanded, shifting the gears into reverse and turning his head back, driving back. He was lucky. The car had gotten far enough away from the area that when it made impact, all they had to deal with was dust...and the 50 to 70 foot crater in the ground.

Colby and Ashley looked at the crater through the dust. What they saw shocked them. A figure had walked out the hole in the ground. A rhino shaped shilloute with red armor had appeared, a grim smirk on his face. "Inhabitants of planet Earth. On the authority of Lord Vilgax we have come to enslave you and takeover your world. Is now a bad time?"

"What is that?" the orangette asked, looking at the driver, who just stared at the creature.

Colby stepped on the gas, driving backwards through the street. He yanked the emergency brake, stopping the rear wheels and turning the steering wheel, spinning the car around and shifting gears into first gear. Once they got far enough, he turned to the sidewalk, stopping the car and getting out.

"Okay, you're going back to the Academy." Colby stated, walking around the front to the passenger side.

Ashley quickly got out the passenger seat, looking to the blonde. "What are you doing?"

"You're gonna take the car and drive back." he continued.

"Well where are you gonna go?" she asked. The young man only grinned.

"I'll find my way back." he answered, walking down the street. The young woman walked to the driver's side of the car, getting in and driving off. "Okay. Here we go again." he dialed through the wheel, selecting a transformation and letting the top move itself over. He then slammed down the cylinder, becoming covered in green and yellow lights.

He opened his arms and legs, lifting his head high. Shards of pale green diamonds covering his left hand, extending to the rest of his body, down his torso and feet. Shards of diamonds growing on his back. Finally, the crystals covered his head, giving him a flat point and pointy back.

Colby looked at himself. His pale green diamond self. He grinned, pounding his crystal fists together. "Alright, let's get this going." he said, beginning to run in the direction he just came from.

* * *

The armored creature walked through the street, searching in the building near him. All the people were in hiding. It wasn't all that surprising, really. "Where are you, insects?" it spoke, suddenly stopping when he heard a voice.

"Who are you calling insect?" asked Diamondhead, with his hands on his hips. He seemed calm, for other words. A smug look on his face.

"And who are you?" the rhino creature questioned the crystal teen. "Petrosapiens are all supposed to be extinct."

"News Flash: we're alive and kicking!" Colby replied. "And I'm here to knock you off my planet!"

The beast only chuckled. "Good luck with that." he stomped his front feet, lowering its head and its armored horn. Soon it charged at the diamond teen.

"Thanks!" Colby replied, quickly jumping to the side and letting the alien ram into a small building. He walked over, cracking his knuckles and grabbing the tail behind the creature. "You're gonna need it!" with all his might, the pale green Petrosapien pulled out the rhino like alien, swinging him around, while trying to keep his balance. He finally let go, letting the creature to fly over a few blocks away. "Heh...that was easy." he began to walk to where the rhino landed. "I actually like this one."

The creature slowly got up, walking covered slight debris from the landing, growling. "Okay, that does it!" it shouted, looking around the area. "Show yourself, Petrosapien! Fight me!"

"Well what have I been doing all this time? Playing body toss?" the young teen joked, walking closer and crossing his arms. "Or do you see this as more Tag?"

The creature only growled, lowering his horn at the diamond teen. "Yeah...you're it." orange energy sparked through the horn, firing a high pressured wave at him.

Diamondhead crossed his arms in defense. The diamond teen was struck by the laser, being knocked back, keeping his footing and reflecting the beam into the air. He looked up, amazed. "Okay, I really like this guy!" he looked down, seeing... _ZOINKS!_

The creature charged at him, ramming its armored horn into Diamondhead torso, cracking it. It slammed the teen into a building behind him, making him tumble through in a flash of green and yellow lights. Colby rolled through the room, hitting his back on a wall.

The human teen slowly got onto his feet, looking at himself. He was normal again. That wasn't good. "No...no no no!" he looked at his watch, trying to activate it. No such luck.

"It ends here, insect." the rhino like alien stated, looking around to only see the human. "Where is the Petrosapien?" it questioned the boy, who only backed away. "Are you gonna talk, or do I have to make you?" suddenly he stepped aside from the entrance, sounds of blaster fire outside. Most of the shots were pointed at the armored creature, who stumbled slightly, giving Colby enough time to run for it.

Once the blonde had escaped the building, he looked over to the source of fire. He saw a group of people in white, both human and alien. In the front, he saw someone familiar. With blonde hair just like his, and blue eyes that he could never forget. A feminine body, and a destructive smile, just like his. "Wait..." he stammered, dumbfounded. "MOM?!"

The motherly figure turned her head to the sound with a smile and a slight tear. "COLBY!"

The blonde teen began to run, looking behind him to see the animal like alien begin to stand, starting to charge at him. He turned to the white and green watch on his wrist. Still nothing. "Come on!"

It seemed bleak to him, trying to run when something that big was just a few feet away and closing. He closed his eyes, and hoped for the best. Then he felt a grab, and sudden wind in his face. When it stopped, he saw he wasn't so far from the group. In fact, he was right in the middle of it. He looked behind himself, seeing a blue skinned female, much similar to the transformation known as XLR8. "Uh...thanks?..."

"No problem." the female speedster replied, crossing her claw like arms.

The blonde got onto his feet, smiling at his mother. He then turned his attention to the monster that caused so much trouble.

Said creature slowly got onto all fours, with a nasty snarl. "God forsaken Plumbers..."

"Attention Exoskull!" shouted a familiar voice. One he couldn't forget-at least not easily. It was Rook Blonko, running from behind the beast, his prototool in hand. "You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say or use will be held against you in a court of law. If you are a telepath, you have the right to refrain from all thought. Anything you say or do will also be held against you in a court of law."

Colby looked at the fur covered teen, a sweat drop on his head. He really does love saying that, huh?

"Ah! Bite me, furry!" said Exoskull, turning to slap Rook into a light pole. He fell, groaning to get up.

"Rook!" Colby yelled, trying to run to him, but being grabbed by a tall red skin four armed man. "Let go of me!" he demanded, trying to pry away. No luck.

The rhino like creature walked slowly to Rook, smirking and raising his foot. "See ya, insect!" he slammed his feet down, making Colby look away.

"Get away from my friend!" shouted another familiar voice. A femine one. The blonde looked to where the creature was. Rook was under its foot, under some sort of pink shield. He saw the Anodite and Osmosian step onto the scene.

"Get Rook and get out of here!" ordered Kevin, placing his hand on the cement ground. His entire body then becoming covered with the same mineral. He then lunged at the beast, knocking it back down. "Go!"

the small platoon followed what was instructed. The blue skinned female speeded to the now unconscious Rook, grabbing him and beginning to run for it. Gwen and Kevin had given them an opening, which they took to escape.

* * *

The small platoon huffed as they escaped. Running into an abandoned building, of what looked to belong to an old Plumbers company. The teen layed against the wall, sighing and looking down at his left wrist. Out of all the time this thing could break down, now of all time? Awesome.

"Colby? Are you okay?" His mother asked, holding Colby's chin and looking over his face for any bruises or cuts.

"Mom, I'm fine. Really." The blonde responded, pushing his mother's hand down slowly. "What about Rook?" He gestured the unconscious fur covered male laying with the others.

"He took a hard hit from ExoSkull." The blue skinned female explained, "But he's tough. He'll pull through." She gave a faint smile of hope, before glaring at the boy in slight suspicion. "How do you know his name?"

"Oh! Uh, well..." he began to stutter at her, leaning more into the wall as she got closer. He gulped in slight terror. It wasn't that she was scary, but that he didn't want anyone to know what he can do. It was of up most importance that know one found out...however it didn't seem like he was getting out of any of this without spilling it.

"Helen!" Another Plumber called. He was the big red skinned, four-eyed, four-armed Tetramand.

"What? It's a good question." Helen stated, spinning over to the red skinned brawler.

"We met before..."Colby started, rubbing the back of his head. He felt uneasy to say the least. With all that was going on, he felt he couldn't speak. He felt he couldn't tell the truth. But he knew, if he didn't, he would put others in harms way. Because if he denied everything, others would believe him, and if the worst happened, they would pay the price.

"We met a few days ago. He arrested me after I beat a bunch of criminals." He told the group. "It turns out I found a device that allows me to transform into these alien forms. They call it the Omnitrix." He raised his left arm and pointed to the white and green watch around his wrist.

His mother only looked at the device, then at her child. "It...it happened..." she muttered to herself, making the blonde teen turn his head to her.

"Mom, I'm sorry. This may seem crazy...but this is my responsibility now!" He stated, walking to the door. "So now, I have to finish this." he opened the entrance, walking into the street, then turning his head to the group. "Get anyone still in the area out! I'll take big and ugly." he activated the holographic wheel and figure of the wrist watch, then to confirm the transformation, slammed down on the hourglass symboled cylinder, being covered in a green and yellow flash of lights.

Brown and red cracks of charcoal covering his left hand, extending to his entire body. A spark of fire soon ignited his body, as well as magma shaping into his hands and feet. He put his fists together. "Let's roll..." he said, bursting into flames, propelling him into the air.

* * *

The rhino like creature walked through the city, looking over the buildings near him. He tried to find any people in the area. To no luck. All the other humans must have evacuated. Exoskull growled in frustration. "All these insects must have fled..." he thought out loud, quickly turning around at the sound of a dehydrated voice.

"Who are you calling insect?" Heatblast questioned, landing in a blazing glory. He stood over the beast, his arms crossed. "I asked you once, and I'll do it again. Get off my planet."

"A Pyronite?" Exoskull asked, digging his feet into the ground.

"You want us? Come get us!" Colby shouted, his hands bursting into flames. He chucked a dozen fireballs at the rhino as it charged at him. Nothing. He was tackled and thrown through a wall into a building, rolling and quickly getting onto his feet.

"Okay..." the Pyronite huffed slightly. "You gotta try better than that!" suddenly his enemy rammed into him, knocking them both through the wall behind them. Colby flew, rolling on the ground with a thud. He slowly started to get up, groaning as he did so.

"Okay...maybe I should've chosen a better one..." the flaming hero thought out loud as the rhino alien inched closer. He stepped away slightly, tapping the hourglass symbol on his chest. "Come on, work!" he began to fiddle with the metal plate more aggressively, turning back to Exoskull. It was no use. He wouldn't be able to beat him like this. He did the only optional action left. He ran.

The teen sprinted across the street, the monster right behind him. "Come on! Work will you?!" Heatblast shouted to the device, the rhino catching up. In terror the teen jumped back, holding his wings down to his sides and propelling himself up into the air. He laughed, swaying through the air. "Ha! Come get me, you piece of shi-" he was interrupted by the sudden blast of energy shooting him down, making him fall down into the ground. "Ahh..."

The rhino slowly walked to the grounded Pyronite as he tried to get on his feet. "You pathetic insect. You are nothing to me!" Exoskull stated, grabbing Colby's right leg and pulling him out of the pavement. A smirk on his face. The teen only groaned.

"No..." Heatblast moaned in pain, slowly losing consciousness. All he saw was black. What did expect? He was new to this hero stuff. How was he supposed to be a hero? How was he supposed to be like Ben? He couldn't. All he could see was the darkness surrounding him, with the feeling of guilt. But a glimpse of green light lit the endless abyss. A familiar figure walking to him.

"Are you just gonna give up like that?" asked a familiar voice as he stood, his arms on his hips. It was him. The original Omnitrix wielder.

"Ben 10?" Colby asked with a smile, tears soon falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't do this. I'm sorry I couldn't save you when I could. This is all my fault!" he stated with a voice of guilt. But he then felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked up, seeing Ben just smile.

"Why are you blaming yourself?" the brown haired teen asked, lifting his left wrist to show his watch. "I'm not the hero. Neither are you. We just do what's right, no matter what." the blonde teen only looked down. "As long as there are people like us, there will always be a hero. Now, act like it."

Suddenly, the entire landscape brightened, showing orange cells, moving at a rapid pace between each other. The blonde teen just looked down at his left wrist, looking at the white and green sports watch. He may not be Tennyson, but he will be the new hero everyone needs.

"No..." the Pyronite muttered, slowly lifting his head with a growl. "I won't let you...hurt anyone else!" his flames grew, changing the color from orange and yellow to blue and white. His temperature raised, as well as his fire growing brighter.

The rhino creature suddenly let go, grasping at his burnt hand, then back at the transformed teen, stepping back.

Heatblast slowly got to his feet, the look of determination on his face. His blue flames extinguished and were replaced with his orange fire. He just huffed in exhaustion, kneeling down as soon as he did. "I'm taking you down, Exoskull."

A beeping noise could be heard as the Omnitrix symbol on his chest flashed orange. _"DNA Decryption complete. New transformation available."_

Colby smirked, looking at Exoskull in anticipation. "Alright! Let's go!" he smacked down on the hourglass symbol, being covered in a bright green and yellow light.

The human figure extended his arms and legs, before curling up into a ball and fading into darkness. The figure then lit up, bringing light to the void in a form of a human figure covered in green flame. Its white eyes opened, with a look of determination.

The teen stood, staring at the beast. His green flaming body burned brightly as he walked forward, scorching the very pavement where he stood.

"What? An Infernite?" Exoskull questioned what was before him, looking in awe. "They were extinct for centuries! How?!"

"How?" the Infernite questioned, stopping in his tracks. "It's simple, really. I am the new hero of this world. The new protector! My name is Colby Carsen, I'm the new wielder of the Omnitrix and I will not let you DESTROY MY WORLD!" He yelled out, his fire growing. He shot up into the air, flying around the rhino and expanding into a tornado of fire.

Exoskull fell back at the extensive heat. The burning surrounding flame overwhelming him. The tornado died down into a humanoid burning body. Looking up he could only groan at the Infernite.

"Take...that..." Colby said, falling back to the ground in a green and yellow flash of light. The now human teen groaned in pain, looking up and seeing vehicles in white and green. He only smiled before closing his eyes and falling unconscious.

* * *

"Colby? Colby, are you alright?" he heard a faintly familiar voice. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the orangette tomboy in an orange hood. It was Ashley, standing over him.

"Ashley? What's wrong?" the blonde teen asked, looking around. He was...in his dorm room. What happened was only a blur, but he could piece everything together. Everything except how he got back.

"Well, you went off to do something stupid. Then some blue furball came and dropped you off." she explained.

'Rook?' he thought to himself. He arched his back to sit down on the bed, holding his head. "Really...well, ain't that a coincidence. I actually a guy like that."

"Oh. So was it him who dyed your hair like that?" the orangette questioned with a smile.

"Huh?" Colby tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he turned his head to the window near his bed. His eyes gone wide upon realization. His hair changed somehow. The ends of his hair were still blonde, but the roots had turned brown somehow. "Ah balls..."

* * *

The rest of the week went on as normal. The news was out that a new hero had appeared. As such, the new Omnitrix wielder smirked. Though there was more...personal news. No one told him, but it was implied when he saw a third mattress on the side of the room.

"Hold on, what?!" the dirt blonde asked with a terrified voice.

What was in front of him was Rook, holding a book bag over his shoulder, a grin on his face. "Magister Carsen requested I attend your college."

"And...you got stuck with me by coincidence?" Colby quizzed in a monotone voice.

"Actually, it was your mother who arranged this." the blue furball explained. "She said if we are to make an efficient team, we must first learn from each other."

The young adult sighed, running his hand into his hair. This was his life now...he wouldn't have it any other way.


	6. Chapter 6-I'm Innocent!

It was just a normal day on the campus of Bellwood Academy. The sky was clear and blue, the sun shining. The new hero walked down the campus path, carrying his bag full of books. The last few days have been normal for him. No alien invasion, not much criminal activity. Just a boring day full of classes...great.

"I will do literally anything to get out of this crap." Colby whispered to himself with a groan. He looked down to the sports watch on his left wrist, and sighed. He said he would only use the Omnitrix if needed. After all, he still had no idea what else the thing could do. "Or I could just deal with it."

"Well, someone woke up on the bad side of sanity this morning." he heard a familiar voice, seeing Ashley walk backwards to his side. A smile on her face.

"Hey, you're the one walking backwards." he replied with a smile back, before sighing.

"Is it because of our date?" the orangette questioned, crossing her arms. "I enjoyed myself. Didn't you?"

Colby shrugged. "Me? Yeah, definitely. My wallet? Not so much." he joked, receiving a light punch to the shoulder.

"You didn't spend that much!" she said with a small laugh.

"I know, but hey, I didn't that much money to begin with." Colby replied with a shrug. "I'm just hoping something, anything, happens today. It gets boring being normal."

"Can't blame you there." Ashley turned her body forward to see where they were walking. "So what class you going to now?"

"I am going to a lecture on history." he explained blatantly, waving his free hand around as he did so.

"A lecture on what history?" the orangette quizzed, leaning forward to get a better view of his expression.

"...history..." the dirt blonde slowly replied, averting his eyes in several directions.

"Oh, wow. Those are some pretty crazy events in 'History'!" she gasped sarcastically. "Are you sure you can handle all that 'History'?"

"Yeah yeah I can handle it." the young male simply said with a chuckle. "But thank you, for that much generosity." he added with sarcasm, before walking away.

It was actually kind of nice. Ever since his date with Ashley and his first big fight, everything was going well. He didn't even need to transform...except whenever he had a bunch of things to do, in which he would turn into Ditto and do everything at once. Other than that, he never had to use the Omnitrix.

He continued to walk down his path with a small smile. Birds chirping and flapping away in the sky, until...they stopped chirping and flapping. It wasn't like they disappeared or flew away, because when the dirt blonde looked up they were still in the sky. It was like they were...frozen in time.

"What the?..." he began, nothing short of babbled from the sudden stop of everything in his world. He turned around, and saw that all the students that were walking along the school grounds were...frozen. All of them, frozen. He turned his attention to the watch attached to his wrist. "Did you have something to do with this?" he shook the device, and soon yelp when he received an actual response.

"No. I did this." spoke a grumbly voice. The teen, quickly turned to the direction of the voice, and his jaw dropped. Standing just across from him was a small foot tall...frog looking man, in a green and black robe like suit. "Colby Carsen, you are coming with me."

"Wait, who are you?" the dirt blonde asked with a raised brow and a look of terrified confusion. He didn't expect a small frog to come and take him away today. In fact, not a lot of people do.

"I am Azmuth. Creator of that device you wear." he pointed to the wrist watch on the teen's left wrist. "It is incredibly dangerous in your possession. I have come to take it back."

"But why? I'm not doing anything bad with it." Colby stated, but the Galvan didn't care.

"Evil or not, that device is a danger to all in anyone's hands." Azmuth replied in his grumbly tone. "Give it to me, so that I may dispose of it properly."

Colby just looked down on Azmuth, squinting his eyes as he shook his head. "No. I'm not handing it over."

"If you will not willingly hand it over, then I will have to take it." the Galvan stated, stepping further.

"I'm not going to fight you for it." the dirt blonde said. "But understand that I need this."

"To what, young Carsen?"

"To save the world."

To this Azmuth nodded, stroking his beard in thought. The Galvan then looked up at the young adult with his hands behind his back. "Is that what you think? Truly?

"Truly." he nodded back. That was when both he and Azmuth were covered in a shining light, strong enough to blind a human in an instant. Colby kept his eyes shut as he felt himself float up, and flailed everywhere. "What's happenin-" he disappeared completely off the face of the Earth.

* * *

"-Ing?!" Before the young adult knew it, he was face down on the floor while the rest of his body was craned by a floating chair. He let out a groan of pain, swinging his legs around so the rest of his body met him on the floor. "Ugh...What was that?..." he slowly got up from the floor. "Why did you do that?..."the dirt blonde looked down with his eyes closed, rubbing his head. "And why would you do th-"

"Colby Carsen! Human Male of Terra!" a mighty voice shouted. It was a tetremand, with an eye patch over one of his eyes, in a furcoat. Beside him, a line of eight other alien creatures sitting in a court. One of these beings being Azmuth.

"What the?..."

"You are hereby charged with possession of a dangerous weapon." an Ectonurite stated with a hiss.

"As well as the revival of an extinct race." said a female voice, as a female figure with the skin of a galaxy, with three fins on her head and temples. She spoke with no mouth, her voice echoing.

Colby stared in a mixture of surprise, confusion and fear as he stared at the line of aliens. "What?...What's happening here?!"

"Your trial."

By that point, the dirt blonde dropped his jaw in shock. It took a few seconds for him to absorb that prior knowledge. "Hold on! Is this about the Omnitrix?!" he shouted up at the court of aliens.

"Yes, precisely." the first thinker answered, nodding his head as he did.

"What did I do wrong again?! I saved quite a few people with it!"

"What was wrong was the mere possession of the Omnitrix!" the tetremand slammed his fist down on the table above the human.

"You were in possession of level 26 technology, on a planet that is barely allow level three technology." the ghost alien stated with a hiss in his voice.

Colby had to blink a few times to understand what they were talking about. That didn't work, so he just shook his head and holding up his watch wielding wrist. "Does anyone want to tell me what this even is?! Maybe give me a guide, a handbook on how it actually works?!"

To this, the Galvin sighed and stepped forward from his spot on the table. "That device is know as the Multimatrix. In it is the DNA sample of all known extraterrestrial species in two whole galaxies. As well, it contains a DNA Decryption feature."

"DNA Decryption?" Colby questioned, before he remembered what the watch said about the DNA Encryption. "It was the thing I turned into, right?"

"If you're referring to the Inferite transformation, then yes." the Petrosapien of the court replied.

Colby took a look at the Petrosapien, before something in his head clicked. "Wait, that rhino guy I fought! He said something about Petrosapiens being extinct!"

"This is true. They were once an endangered species." Azmuth stated.

"Once? So that means they were brought back too! Why are you getting on my back for this, yet he's still around?!" the dirt blonde pointed at the Diamondhead.

"The Petrosapien race was not fully extinct, and as well were brought back without the help from a different species."

"That makes no sense!"

"Silence!" the Celestialsapian voice echoed, and the arguing quickly stopped. "This is not a discussion of the Petrosapien race! This is your trial, Colby Carsen."

"Then where's my lawyer? The jury? Anything that gives me at least a chance at being innocent?!" The dirt blonde rose from his seat with the look of annoyance.

The extraterrestrials looked at each other, then back at the boy.

"Oh, don't tell me you guys don't have a system for this..." Colby pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He has a point." Tetrax stated with a shrug. "He is human. He only knows human customs."

"Yeah! It's rigged!" The Multitrix wielded shouted.

The galaxy skinned female tapped her chin, before speaking. "I see. In light of this situation, a change will be made. You will be provided a lawyer. You have three Earth hours to go over your case with him."

Colby sighed to himself. "Thanks, I guess..." he said scratching his head.


End file.
